The exploration industry has not experienced anything quite like the level of activity we have had over the past three years. It has been a world-wide party in terms of footage drilled, but, like all parties, this one also had to wind down. Now it’s back to reality.
I have been in this business so long that my face has worn out two bodies.
This is a cyclic industry, and those of us who have experienced similar downturns in the past can cope with the present situation. I chalk it up to retooling time. This will be a period to refocus and get ready for the next round.
The declining price of gold and base metals has given the average geologist a mild case of heartburn and the contractors a nervous twitch, but this slump is all in the cards and to be expected. The market and mining can be compared with newlyweds; each couple can only kiss so long before coming up for air.
Don’t despair. The good times will come back, maybe not to the levels of the past few years, but the industry will return to normal.
Bud Laporte,
North Bay, Ont.
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